Need a Good Book To Read?

My Top 100+ Recommended Books

When interviewing prospective franchisees and potential employees one of the questions that I often ask is: “What are a few of the titles included in your personal success library”?  More often than not, the response I get is that of a deer in the headlights.  Over the past 20+ years I’ve asked the question thousands of times, but to this day I’m still amazed at how little people read. 

I doubt that either of us have ever had a question or a problem for which a book has not been written.  A book that answers the question or provides detailed instruction on how to resolve the problem, or prevent the problem.  In fact you can almost bet that there are literally dozens of books on any subject or situation you can think of.  I often ask people “If you were experiencing a problem, and I had once had the same exact problem, and I had invested 5-years finding a solution to that problem and then I wrote a book on how to solve and/or avoid that problem; would you rather spend 5-years finding your own solution or 5-hours reading the book?”  Obviously the prudent individual would choose to read the book, thusly saving a lot of time, money, and hassle. 

When speaking to high-school and collegiate entrepreneurial groups, I often discuss the importance of reading.  I pose the question, “Who can read one book in one week?”  It is not unusual for every hand in the auditorium, or class room to be raised.  I then ask, other than a school book, who here has read a book related to your specific career interest in the past week?  Past month?  In the past 12 months?  Seldom do I see more than 1% of the hands raised at one week, or one month or more than 10% in the past 12 months.  When you think about the fact that this is a group of entrepreneurial students with chosen careers, it’s truly amazing that such a small percentage have taken the opportunity to read a book about what they hope to do for the rest of their lives.

I then ask why they haven’t read more books regarding a topic in which they’re interested, on the subject that they hope to build a lifetime career, etc… The top responses are almost always they don’t have time, or they can’t afford to buy the books.  Of course I then point out that we all have the same amount of time, and that we can find time to do that which is important to us.  As for affordability, I’ll ask them how much their school library or local library is charging for a ‘Library Card”?  An interesting statistic is that less than 3% of the general population has a library card, and the library is for all intents and purposes FREE and a vast resource to the world’s knowledge.   

Going back to my original question, I then say, “Most everyone here said that they could read one book in one week, but very few do.  If you were to read one book per week for one year, how many books would you have read at the end of the year?  FIFTY-TWO!  How many after 5 years?  TWO HUNDRED AND SIXTY!  I’m here to tell you, that if you read, studied and learned the content of 260 books on any single topic you would be one of the leading experts in the country on that particular topic.  As a leading expert you’ll be in higher demand and be able to charge more for what you do.”   I often receive an overwhelming commitment from those in attendance to begin reading, and am asked for suggested titles.  Here are a few of those which I highly recommend that they read and as soon as possible make a part of their “Personal Success Library” and I’d encourage you to add them to yours.

  FRANSYNERGY BIBLIOGRAPY

1. A Few Must Have Classics
1. Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, by Robert Pirsig
2. The Prince, by Niccolo Machiavelli
3. Think and Grow Rich, by Napoleon Hill
4. The Art of War, by Sun Tzu
5. On War, by Karl Von Clausewitz
6. How to Win Friends and Influence People, by Dale Carnegie
7. The Book of Five Rings, by Miyamoto Musashi
8. The 48 Laws of Power, by Robert Greene
9. Out of The Crisis, by W. Edwards Deming
10. Who Moved My Cheese, by Kenneth Blanchard & Spencer Johnson
11. Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies, by Jim Collins & Jerry Porras.
12. The Peter Principle, by Lawrence J. Peter
13. The E-Myth, by Michael E. Gerber
2. SELLING
1. Secrets of Question Based Selling: How the Most Powerful Tool in Business Can Double Your Sales Results, by Thomas Freese.
2. Solution Selling: Creating Buyers in Difficult Selling Markets, by Michael T. Bosworth.
3. How to Master the Art of Selling, by Tom Hopkins
4. High Trust Selling: Make More Money – In less Time – With Less Stress, by Todd Duncan.
5. Integrity Selling for the 21st Century: How to Sell the Way People Want to Buy, by Ron Willngham.
6. Ziglar On Selling by Zig Ziglar
7. Selling 101 by Zig Ziglar
8. Secrets of Closing The Sale, by Zig Ziglar
9. No Go Sell Somebody Something, by Zig Ziglar
10. Be a Sales Superstar, by Brian Tracy
11. Selling the Invisible: A Field Guide to Modern Marketing, by Harry Beckwith
12. Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement without Giving In, by Roger Fisher
13. The Art of Selling to the Affluent: How to Attract, Service, and Retain Wealth Customers & Clients for Life, by Matt Oechsli
14. Selling the Dream, by Guy Kawasaki
15. Tom Hopkins’ Low Profile Selling, by Tom Hopkins
16. Selling Air, by Dan Herchenroether
3. SUCCESS IN BUSINESS
1. The 100 Absolutely Unbreakable Laws of Business Success, by Brian Tracy
2. Turbostrategy, by Brian Tracy
3. Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap and Others Don’t, by James C. Collins and Jim Collins
4. The E-Myth Revisited, by Michael E. Gerber
5. Winning, by Jack and Suzy Welch
6. The Google Story, by David Vise
7. Guerilla Marketing: Secrets for making Big Profits from Your Small Business, by Jay Conrad Levinson
8. Raving Fans: A Revolutionary Approach to Customer Service by Ken Blanchard, and Sheldon Bowles
9. What Customers Really Want: Bridging the Gap Between What Your Company Offers and What Your Clients Crave, by Scott McKain
10. First, Break All the Rules: What the World’s Greatest Managers Do Differently, by Marcus Buckingham and Curt Coffman.
11. Full Steam Ahead!  Unleash the Power of Vision in Your Company and Your Life, by Kenneth H. Blanchard
12. If It Ain’t Broke…Break It! And Other Unconventional Wisdom for a Changing Business World., by Robert J. Kriegel.
13. In Search of Excellence, by Tom Peters & Robert Waterman
14. How to Swim with the Sharks Without Being Eaten Alive: Outsell, Outmanage, Outmotivate, and Outnegotiate Your Competition, by Harvey Mackay
15. The One Minute Manager, by Kenneth Blanchard & Spencer Johnson
4. FRANCHISING
1. Street Smart Franchising, by Joe Mathews, Don Debolt, Deb Pecival
2. The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Franchising, by James H. Amos, Jr.
3. Successful Franchising: by Bradley J. Sugars
4. Franchising, by Jr. Spinellie, Robert Rosenberg, Sue Birley
5. Franchising for Dummies, by Dave Thomas and Michael Seid
6. How to Buy a Franchise, by James A. Meaney
7. Franchise Bible, by Erwin J. Keup
8. The Franchise Kit, by Kirk Shivell, Kent Shivell, and Kent Banning
9. The Unofficial Guide to Opening a Franchise, by Jason R. Rich
10. The Franchise Fraud: How to Protect Yourself Before and After You Invest, by Robert L. Purvin
11. The Franchise Handbook: A Complete Guide to All Aspects of Buying, Selling and Investing in a Franchise, by Kevin B. Murphy.
12. Franchising 101: The Complete Guide to Evaluating, Buying and Growing Your Franchise Business, by Ann Dugan.
13. Tips and Traps When Buying a Franchise, by Mary Tozack
14. Franchising Dreams: The Lure of Entrepreneurship in America, by Peter Birkeland.
15. The Economics of Franchising, by Roger Blair and Francine LaFontaine.
16. Dyeing To Be Rich, by Don Dwyer
5. PERSONAL GROWTH & DEVELOPMENT
1. Top Performance, by Zig Ziglar
2. Success for Dummies, by Zig Ziglar
3. See You at The Top, by Zig Ziglar
4. Over the Top, by Zig Ziglar
5. The Power of Charm, by Brian Tracy and Ron Arden
6. Crunch Point, by Brian Tracy
7. Something for Nothing, by Brian Tracy
8. Eat That Frog, by Brian Tracy
9. Create Your Own Future, by Brian Tracy
10. Rich Dad, Poor Dad, by Robert T. Kiyosaki and Sharon L. Lechter
11. The Richest Man Who Ever Lived, by Steven Scott
12. Richest Man in Babylon, by George S. Clason
13. The Millionaire Next Door, by Thomas Stanley and William DAnko
14. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, by Stephen R. Covey
15. The 8th Habit, by Stephen R. Covey.
16. Developing the Leader Within You, by John C. Maxwell
17. Awaken the Giant Within, by Anthony Robbins
18. The Fred Factor, by Mark Sanborn
19. Screw It, Let’s Do It, by Richard Branson
20. Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking, by Malcolm Gladwell
21. Lead Like Jesus: Lessons from the Greatest Leadership Role Model of All Times, by Kenneth Blanchard and Phil Hodges
22. Execution: The Discipline of Getting Things Done, by Larry Bossidy
23. Shut Up, Stop Whining, and Get a Life: A kick-But Approach to a Better Life, by Larry Winget
24. Leadership and Self-Deception: Getting Out of the Box, by Arbinger Institute
25. It’s Not Over Until You Win: How to Become the Person You Always Wanted to Be No Matter What the Obstacle.  By Les Brown.
26. The Power of Positive Thinking A Practical Guide to Mastering the Problems of Everday Living, by Norman Vincent Peale
27. Enthusiasm Makes the Difference, by Norman Vincent Peale
28. Six Attitudes for Winners, by Norman Vincent Peale
29. How Full is Your Bucket? Positive Strategies for Work & Life, by Tom Rath
30. Why Your Life Sucks and what you can do about it, by Alan H. Cohen
6. FAMILY
1. Raising Positive Kids in a Negative World, by Zig Ziglar
2. Courtship After Marriage, by Zig Ziglar
3. Family First: Your Step-By-Step Plan for a Phenomenal Family, by Phillip C. McGraw
4. Love & Respect: The Love She Most Desires, the Respect he desperately needs, by Emerson Eggerichs
5. The Proper Care and Feeding of Husbands, by Laura C. Schlessinger
6. His Needs, Her Needs: Building an Affair-Proof Marriage, by Willard F. Harley, Jr.
7. 1-2-3 Magic: Effective Discipline for Children 2 – 12,  by Thomas W. Phelan
7. EMPLOYEES
1. Hire and Keep the Best People, by Brian Tracy
2. Gung Ho!  Turn on the People in Any Organization, by Kenneth Blanchard and Sheldon Bowles
3. Keeping Employees Accountable for Results: Quick Tips for Busy Managers, by Brian Cole Miller
4. Jesus CEO, by Laurie Beth Jones
5. Don’t Fire Them, Fire Them Up: Motivate Yourself and Your Team, by Frank Pacetta.
6. Light Their Fire: Using Internal Marketing to Ignite Employee Performance and Wow Your Customers, by Susan M. Drake.
7. Make Their Day! Employee Recognition That Works, by Cindy Fentrice
8. GOALS
1. Goals! How to Get Everything You Want-Faster Than You Ever Thought Possible, by Brian Tracy
2. Write It Down Make It Happen, Knowing What You Want and Getting It, by Henriette Anne Klauser
3. Live Your Dreams, by Les Brown
4. Up Thoughts for Down Times: Encouraging Words for Getting Through Life, by Les Brown

Believe & Succeed,
FranSynergy

Synergizing Franchising 1 Franchise at a Time
www.fransynergy.com

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Photo originally uploaded by Matilde B.